A study of acculturation in psychotic and non-psychotic immigrants living in Athens

Acculturation is the phenomenon that results when a group with one culture comes into continuous contact with a host culture.

To investigate the correlation between acculturation and psychotic symptomatology in a group of immigrants suffering from psychosis and to explore differences in demographic factors related with the acculturation process between individuals with and without psychosis.

Sixty-five patients and 317 non-psychotic immigrants were interviewed using the Immigrant Acculturation Scale (IAS) and a structured questionnaire for demographic data. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) were also administered to all immigrants suffering from psychosis.

Total IAS scores, as well as IAS everyday life scores, were positively correlated with GAF scores. IAS everyday life score in the patient group related with religion, marital status, gender and years in Greece, while in the non-psychosis group it was related with gender and years in Greece. IAS wishful orientation/nostos (the strong desire for one's homeland) related with religion in both groups. The IAS identity in the psychosis group did not show any significant relation with any of the variables, while in the non-patient group, it was related with marital status, gender and years in Greece. Age, duration of residence in Greece and higher adoption of Greek ethnic identity were the variables that differentiated the two groups of immigrants.

Acculturation in immigrants suffering from psychosis could be seen as a process that does not correlate strongly with the severity of the symptomatology but is probably influenced by different set of factors.